Between 1775 and 1783, some 200,000 Americans took up arms against the British Crown. Just over 6,800 of those men died in battle. About 25,000 became prisoners of war, most of them confined in New York City under conditions so atrocious that they perished by the thousands. Evidence suggests that at least 17,500 Americans may have died in these prisons—more than twice the number to die on the battlefield. It was in New York, not Boston or Philadelphia, where most Americans gave their lives for the cause of independence. New York City became the jailhouse of the American Revolution because it was the principal base of the Crown's military operations. Beginning with the bumper crop of American captives taken during the 1776 invasion of New York, captured Americans were stuffed into a hastily assembled collection of public buildings, sugar houses, and prison ships. The prisoners were shockingly overcrowded and chronically underfed—those who escaped alive told of comrades so hungry they ate their own clothes and shoes. Despite the extraordinary number of lives lost, Forgotten Patriots is the first-ever account of what took place in these hellholes. The result is a unique perspective on the Revolutionary War as well as a sobering commentary on how Americans have remembered our struggle for independence—and how much we have forgotten.
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"An intelligent, insightful discussion of a forgotten subject: American prisoners of war in the Revolution. Burrows's book is solidly researched and well-written. Such a good read." — Julie (5 out of 5 stars)
"An intelligent, insightful discussion of a forgotten subject: American prisoners of war in the Revolution. Burrows's book is solidly researched and well-written. Such a good read."
A moving tribute to the martyrs of the prison ships.
“[Burrows] offers riveting accounts of what prison life was like in New York…It is as if, more than 200 years later, fitting tribute has finally been paid.”
“[A] pathbreaking examination of the treatment of American prisoners during the Revolutionary War…His sparkling prose, meticulous research, and surprising findings recast our understanding of how the new nation was brought forth… Burrows masterfully explores a subject that had been left nearly untouched for more than two centuries.”
" This is such an important story, forget the fact that it is disjointed (in places), repetitive (in places), and self-contradictory. "
" Gives new meaning to the word "Patriot". Wonder how the News shriekers would have fared on the New Jersey. I'm sure I wouldn't have lasted a day "
" Dragged in placed, but it was still an interesting read into the Revolutionary War timeframe. "
" Eye-opening account of the trials that those who fought for our freedom endured. I hope that this can be better known so that we learn from those who hurt us in order to not repeat the same mistakes. "
Edwin G. Burrows (1943–2018) was coauthor with Mike Wallace of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, which won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for History. He was the author of Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War, (2008), which won the 2009 Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award. He received awards from the Municipal Art Society, the St. Nicholas Society, and the New York Society Library, among others, and he was named a “Centennial Historian of New York.” He served as a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.
Norman Dietz is a writer, voice-over artist, and audiobook narrator. He has won numerous Earphones Awards and was named one of the fifty “Best Voices of the Century” by AudioFile magazine. He and his late wife, Sandra, transformed an abandoned ice-cream parlor into a playhouse, which served “the world’s best hot fudge sundaes” before and after performances. The founder of Theatre in the Works, he lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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